Modern internal combustion engines typically utilize one or more fuel injectors for metering a precise quantity of fuel to be combusted in respective combustion chambers such that the combustion is initiated, by way of non-limiting example only, with a spark from a spark plug. Combustion of the fuel may be used, for example, to propel a motor vehicle and to generated electricity or drive other accessories in support of operation of the motor vehicle. Fuels in liquid form that are commonly used to power the internal combustion engine include, by way of non-limiting example only, gasoline, ethanol, alcohol, diesel fuel, and the like and blends of two or more thereof. Until more recently, fuel injectors commonly referred to as port fuel injectors were predominantly used. Port fuel injectors inject fuel into a port of an intake manifold where the fuel is mixed with air prior to being drawn into the combustion chamber of the internal combustion through an intake valve of the cylinder head. A typical port fuel injector is show in U.S. Pat. No. 7,252,249 to Molnar. In order to increase fuel economy and reduce undesirable emissions produced by combustion of the fuel, direct injection fuel injectors have been increasing in use. As the name suggests, direct injection fuel injectors inject fuel directly into the combustion chamber. An example of such a direct injection fuel injector is described in Unites States Patent Application Publication No. US 2012/0067982 A1 to Perry et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In a typical internal combustion engine, a plurality of direct injection fuel injectors such as those disclosed in Perry et al. are attached to a common volume of a fuel rail which contains pressurized fuel. The fuel rail includes a plurality of fuel rail sockets which each receive a portion of a respective fuel injector therein. In use, the pressurized fuel acts on the fuel injectors, thereby trying to push the fuel injectors out of their respective fuel rail sockets. It may be desirable to suspend the fuel injectors from their respective fuel rail sockets in order to minimize contact between the internal combustion engine and the fuel injectors, thereby minimizing noise and heat transfer. U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,646,434; 8,813,722; and 7,856,962 to Harvey et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 8,479,710 to Davis; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,798,127 to Notaro et al.; United Stated Patent Application Publication No. US 2010/0012093 A1 to Pepperine et al.; and Research Disclosure Publication No. 601008 teach various arrangements for retaining a fuel injector to a fuel rail socket. However, these various arrangements for retaining the fuel injector to the fuel rail socket may be costly and difficult to implement. Furthermore some of these arrangements for retaining the fuel injector to the fuel rail socket may not be satisfactory when subjected to fuel pressures which are ever increasing in an attempt to achieve greater efficiency and reduced emissions. Consequently, improvements in retaining the fuel injector to the fuel rail socket are always sought.
What is needed is an arrangement for retaining a fuel injector to a fuel rail socket which minimizes or eliminates one or more of the shortcomings set forth above.